Squiggy The Scrunched Sulcata

[Turtulas-Len]

I received her because of the deformity of her shell. I thought that I had found her a home, but they never came back. So I have decided to make her a part of my family. The first two pics are from the day she arrived. The next two are from this morning When the other hatchlings left I had to separate her from Donald because she is a bully and intimidated him almost immediately, Everything was fine when there were more than two.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Nice! I had someone from work try to get me to take a greek tortoise off their hands. Apparently it suffered severe shell damage from a lawnmower accident. They couldn't afford a vet. I agreed to take it but it died the next morning before I had a chance to pick it up.

 

[Turtulas-Len]

Nice! I had someone from work try to get me to take a greek tortoise off their hands. Apparently it suffered severe shell damage from a lawnmower accident. They couldn't afford a vet. I agreed to take it but it died the next morning before I had a chance to pick it up.

I had someone message me a couple weeks ago about an injured box turtle that someone had brought to her. She sent me some pictures and the shell was cracked, not bleeding and he looked pretty good. But it turned out to not be a fresh injury. It died that night and was full of maggots under the shell They can't all be saved.

 

[EllieMay]

I think she’s special! Glad I’ll still get the chance to watch her grow.

 

[Turtulas-Len]

I got a digital postal scale and today she weighed in at 142 grams.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Well looky there! Cute little face.

 

[Blackdog1714]

The name is befitting of the little cutie!

 

[Miscally]

I got a digital postal scale and today she weighed in at 142 grams. View attachment 283529 View attachment 283530

So cute! It reminds me of when Goliath was small. He's getting big now, 8kg at last weigh in.

 

[Turtulas-Len]

Squiggy is doing fine, weighed her a little bit ago and she is 170 grams. A few pics from today.

 

[Yvonne G]

Interesting how smooth she is except for that one particular scute that seems to have just popped up!

 

[Turtulas-Len]

Interesting how smooth she is except for that one particular scute that seems to have just popped up!

That's the point where the abnormalities begin, her front half is pretty much normal.I'm guessing it's caused by the bone structure. It would be nice to know what caused it, The guy that hatched her out said the egg looked normal, like all the others.She was a little smaller than her sibling Donald when she arrived but she is almost 100 grams lighter than him at this point.

 

[Turtulas-Len]

Squiggy is doing fine, growing at a steady rate. She is 283 grams today at 6 months old.

 

[Turtulas-Len]

Squiggy is back for a visit. He looks good. Squiggy is now named Sammy and will be here for a couple weeks This is the first time I've seen him since he went to his new home and I'm happy with how he looks.

 

[turtlesteve]

Interesting how smooth she is except for that one particular scute that seems to have just popped up!

I have always been mildly bothered by the frequent comment that split scutes and scute abnormalities are benign. We really should say they are usually benign. There is clearly a small percentage of cases (guessing 1-2%?) where they are linked to growth deformities.

Still a beautiful tortoise!

 

[Turtulas-Len]

Squiggy came back home this morning. Her caretakers are both having health problems and can't properly care for her anymore. She looks good and weighs just under 4 pounds. I wasn't expecting her to come back so will spend the day setting something up for her. I'm handicapped with a injured left wrist and hand which makes it more difficult.

 

[Yvonne G]

Squiggy came back home this morning. Her caretakers are both having health problems and can't properly care for her anymore. View attachment 335110 View attachment 335111 View attachment 335112 She looks good and weighs just under 4 pounds. I wasn't expecting her to come back so will spend the day setting something up for her. I'm handicapped with a injured left wrist and hand which makes it more difficult.

Interesting that in your first posts Squiggy was 'she', 'her', etc. then she was Sammy and 'he,' 'him,' etc. and now IT'S back home and she's back to being SHE! The tortoise is lookin' good, but I'm sensing that the part of the plastron that comes up to meet the carapace seems to be a bit thicker (wider) than normal??? Squiggy, Sammy et al is really pretty. None of my tortoises ever look that clean and shiny!

I didn't know you had an injured hand is this something new, or an old injury?

 

[Turtulas-Len]

Interesting that in your first posts Squiggy was 'she', 'her', etc. then she was Sammy and 'he,' 'him,' etc. and now IT'S back home and she's back to being SHE! The tortoise is lookin' good, but I'm sensing that the part of the plastron that comes up to meet the carapace seems to be a bit thicker (wider) than normal??? Squiggy, Sammy et al is really pretty. None of my tortoises ever look that clean and shiny!

I didn't know you had an injured hand is this something new, or an old injury?

It's a new injury, Sunday 2 weeks ago I caught my toe on the top board coming from Gallopers yard with dishes in both hands and gravity took over. I went face down bent my glasses and most likely tore a ligament or broke a small bone in my hand. I couldn't use it at all for a couple days but is getting better. If I could keep it in my pocket and not use it at all it would heal quicker. But that's not going to happen. I've always thought Squiggy was a female. The couple that's had her had a previous pet named Sammy and liked that name. They both are in their mid 80s and really hated to have to give her up.

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh, geez, I'm sorry to hear that. You didn't go to the Emergency and get it looked after?

 

[Turtulas-Len]

Oh, geez, I'm sorry to hear that. You didn't go to the Emergency and get it looked after?

No, If something is broken or separated it would require surgery to fix it. They probably would tell me not to use it and it will heal in time. Last year a good friend of mine broke her arm between the elbow and shoulder and the bone is offset some. The doctors said it will heal the way it is even if it's not reset. If I or her were much younger it would be a different story. May consider getting it fixed right. Health insurance has nothing to do with it both of us have great insurance, it's all about age.

 

[Turtulas-Len]

I got her set up outside today in an unused house with a small wandering area. She didn't hesitate to eat right after putting her in before changing it up to make it safer for her. She walked up to the door several times and turned around a couple times before deciding to go in as I worked on the remodel. This is her safe area for now. I'm setting up a 20 gallon long so I can bring her inside at night if needed because of her small sixe.